Vampire World (VAMPIRE WORLD #1)

Part 16 Bloody Trouble

Chapter 15: Bloody Trouble

“Well, what’s it gonna be?” Rob yelled.

Brett stepped back and opened the car door. “Come on, Janice,” he said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

While we climbed inside I heard more laughter and insults coming from Rob and his punk friends. But I was proud of Brett for staying out of trouble. He'd done the right thing.

“You probably think I’m a wimp,” he said as we drove away from the goons.

I told him exactly how I felt. He smiled. Now all I could think about was that he'd called me his girlfriend. But how could we be boyfriend and girlfriend? We hadn't kissed on the grave. Not that this changed my feelings. Whatever we were, I loved him regardless.

“Well, on to my folk’s house,” he said.

 Enthusiasm rose as we passed through a dense neighborhood of little homes. This was shattered by a sudden popping noise. Brett swerved and came close to smashing into a streetlight.

“What the hell?” he shouted.

He stepped out of the car.  I followed him.

Both back tires both had multiple holes in them and were completely destroyed.

“How did this happen?” Brett muttered.

As he investigated further, something flew out of one of the holes and went right into my face. The ghastly flying insect had four eyes, tiny but vicious looking teeth, and a needle-like nose. Then it landed on my arm. Before I had a chance to knock it away, it jammed its nose deep into my skin. I felt shrilling pain.

Brett quickly swatted the burrowing insect and killed it. Part of its guts were still sticking to my arm.

“You okay?” he said, sweating some blood.

“Yeah. What the hell was that?”

“That’s a Grinder. They come from Bloodwood Forest. They can grind their way through anything, including our skin. And they love our blood.”

Brett scanned his destroyed tires. “Stay back and get down,” he warned.

He tapped sharply on both wheels. Almost immediately a swarm of grinders flew out, whizzing around and passing dangerously close to Brett while he swatted at them. After circling around a few times, they eventually flew away.

“It’s all safe now,” he said.

After surveying his tires one more time, Brett banged his fists against the car. “Dammit! Those creeps must have done this.”

“Look,” I said, spotting a letter taped to the bumper.

Brett snatched it up and read what was written aloud. “Hope your casket on wheels enjoyed getting grinded. Next time, it’s gonna be you.”

He crumpled the letter and threw it hard to the ground. “I knew I should have bloodied him up when I had the chance.”

I tried my best to calm Brett down. But it didn’t work.

“New tires are going to cost me a fortune.”

“Well, you can take the train to see me then,” I said.

“I know,” he responded.  “But I hate the damn train. A vampire loves his car, you know.”

In a weird way, it was kind of nice to see him mad. It brought out the macho vamp in him. Meanwhile, he said we were pretty far from the nearest train station.